Prosecutor Files Two Submissions to the Supreme Court to Exonerate Convicted Individuals from March 1st Case

The press service of the RA Prosecutor General's Office reports that Prosecutor General Arthur Davtyan has submitted cassational complaints against the verdicts delivered in 2008 concerning Samvel Harutyunyan and Masis Ayvazyan.

According to the 2008 verdicts, these individuals were found guilty under the first part of Article 316 of the RA Criminal Code. The court established that during the events of early morning on March 1, 2008, the individuals neither complied with the legal demands of police officers at Freedom Square and Northern Avenue, nor did they act in a way that constituted substantial danger to life or health. As a result, S. Harutyunyan was sentenced to one year, while M. Ayvazyan received a sentence of one year and six months of conditional imprisonment.

The verdicts were appealed to the RA Court of Appeal by the defense in 2008; however, they were rejected, leaving the decisions of the general jurisdiction court unchanged. In the case of M. Ayvazyan, a cassational appeal was also made, but it was returned on the grounds of lacking necessary conditions for acceptance into proceedings.

A review conducted by the RA Prosecutor General's Office into the verdicts and case materials revealed that the proceedings of the criminal case were incorrectly predetermined from the outset. Fundamental violations of procedural law occurred during the investigations of the specified cases, resulting in judicial acts that were illegal and unfounded and undermined the essence of justice.

In particular, the charges against these individuals were vague, lacking specific descriptions of criminal actions, and there were no identified victims; the investigation failed to clarify the identities of those allegedly subjected to violence. This means that the actions of S. Harutyunyan and M. Ayvazyan did not meet the criteria for a crime as defined by Article 316 of the RA Criminal Code.

Further review found that the courts in these cases violated the constitutional and conventional rights of the defendants to defense and a fair trial. Specifically, the defense's motions to interrogate several witnesses, who were eyewitnesses and participants of the events, were denied during the proceedings, while the verdict was based solely on the unverified testimonies from police officers.
Meanwhile, the European Court has provided legal positions regarding the cases “Mushkeg Sahakelyan vs. the Republic of Armenia” and several other complaints unrelated to Armenia, indicating that unconditionally affirming the police's version of events, failing to adequately address any of the applicant's arguments, and rejecting requests to question defense witnesses without properly examining the relevance of their testimonies restrict the rights of the defense, contradicting the guarantees of a fair trial.

Based on these circumstances, RA Prosecutor General Arthur Davtyan has approached the RA Supreme Court requesting the annulment and modification of the judicial acts concerning Samvel Harutyunyan and Masis Ayvazyan, recognizing their innocence regarding the charges against them.

Thus, as a result of the review process by the RA Prosecutor General's Office regarding individuals involved in the events following the 2008 presidential elections, complaints have already been submitted regarding ten individuals concerning judicial acts that were allegedly in violation of their conventional rights. One of these (the case of Aram Bareghamyan) was submitted based on newly emerged circumstances, another (the case of Mushkeg Sahakelyan) due to new circumstances based on ECtHR rulings, while the other eight (involving S. Ayvazyan, D. Matevosyan, Kh. Galstyan, Hovh. Ghazaryan, D. Arakelyan, A. Shahinyan, S. Harutyunyan, and M. Ayvazyan) were submitted due to fundamental violations of procedural rights undermining the essence of justice caused by the court.
Of these appeals, three have been accepted for proceedings by the RA Supreme Court. One, concerning M. Sahakelyan, has resulted in the acceptance of the prosecution's motion to send the case for a new judicial review. During the proceedings in the general jurisdiction first-instance court, the prosecution withdrew charges, resulting in a verdict of acquittal. The other two appeals remain under the jurisdiction of the RA Supreme Court.

The remaining seven appeals submitted by the Prosecutor General are still awaiting decisions from the RA Supreme Court regarding their acceptance into proceedings.